In order to accommodate the various tools or drill bits that may be placed within the jaws of a chuck in a power driven drill, means are provided for adjusting the opening defined by the jaws. The chuck is ordinarily adjusted by means of a chuck key which normally has a shaft with an associated circular bevel gear. The shaft of the key is engaged in a hole in the side of the chuck and the key rotated with the bevel gear on the key engaged to a gear of the chuck. Rotation of the key opens or closes the jaws of the chuck and thereby facilitates changing the tool clamped in the jaws.
Various means have been used to retain the chuck key in association with the tool with which it is used. Such means include recesses in the body of the tool into which the chuck key is inserted, clamps on the electrical cord of the electric drill which engage the chuck key in some fashion or strap-like members that tie the chuck key to a portion of the tool, usually the cord.
Prior art methods of associating the chuck key with the tool have several shortcoming. Inserting the chuck key into portions of the tool itself requires the tool to be designed with a specific location that is convenient to the user in which the chuck key may be inserted and retained. Clamps associated with the cord or the tool itself must provide a simple means of engaging the chuck key to the clamp while being able to withstand the wear and tear associated with the use of the tool. Such clamps must be capable of grasping the chuck key formly so it is not lost yet releases it readily to the operator of the tool. Straps which affix the chuck key to the tool or the cord have the shortcoming of allowing the chuck key to move about during the operation of the tool in a manner that may either be distracting to the operator or inadvertently engage the workpiece in a manner that could hinder use of the tool.
The present invention is intended to provide an inexpensive chuck key that may be retained on the electrical cord of an electric drill in a manner that eliminates many of the shortcomings of the prior art. The primary object of the present invention is to retain the chuck key on the cord in a manner such that it is readily detachable, yet it retains the chuck key at the desired location without complex tooling associated with the production of a special key retaining device and without the associated shortcomings of a dangling chuck key.
Other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, may be learned from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment or may be learned by practice of the invention disclosed herein.